What is Dropshipping for Beginners How to Make Money Online in 2021

Hey , what's up world ?

I'm Tommy Walker with OBO .

And today we're gonna talk about drop shipping , what it is and how you can get started .

I'll also give you four actionable steps to start your own drop shipping business today and stick around until the end of the video because I'll give you a few personal suggestions and things to keep in mind as you're getting started .

Welcome to the Obolo youtube channel where every week we'll be discussing the various elements of what goes into starting operating and growing your own drop shipping business .

If you have any questions or want to share your own experiences with drop shipping , drop them in the comments below and I will be sure to answer them like I said before , I'm Tommy Walker .

And if you like what we're talking about here , consider subscribing so you can get new videos every week .

So let's say you've been thinking about opening up your own online business , but you don't know where to start .

You don't know what you should sell .

You don't have any money to invest in products and looking around .

You don't have any room for inventory .

Well , that's drop shipping is all about .

You see , with drop shipping , you can sell stuff online without the products ever being in your hand .

All you need is a computer , an online store and a basic understanding of how to market and sell online .

Here's how it works .

First , you find what you want to sell from a supplier and then list that product on your website at a price you set next .

When someone places an order on that product , your customer pays you the retail price you've set and you make a profit , then you'll place the order with your supplier at wholesale price and have it shipped directly to your customer .

So let's say you found this watch on a supplier's website for $10 you would then list it on your own website for $30 .

And when the order comes through your website , you would then place your order with your supplier using your customer's information , keeping the $20 profit and having that product shipped directly to your customer .

That's it .

Now , I know what you're thinking .

Why wouldn't somebody just order the watch directly from the supplier's website ?

Well , there's a couple of reasons .

First , it's a very big internet and customers may not know about the supplier to buy from them directly .

Second , when people buying things , they're not just buying into products , they're buying into the marketing positioning , trust brand and lifestyle .

These products represent with drop shipping , you can focus on marketing your products and saying the right things at the right time and on providing real value to the right people because you're not warehousing any inventory or dealing with most of the other challenges that come with running an ecommerce business .

Now , a couple of challenges that do need to be considered when drop shipping are finding incredible suppliers with good quality products and making sure you have visibility in your customers fulfillment process .

Honestly , you can find suppliers on your own .

However , when you're drop shipping completely on your own , you can end up spending a lot of time researching and negotiating with suppliers to guarantee your customer satisfaction .

Another option is a tool like overload , which with a few clicks gives you access to millions of products to sell and has dozens of features to make your life easier .

Like monitoring inventory levels , automatically calculating profit margin , fulfilling and tracking orders , monitoring shipping status , measuring delivery performance and a whole lot more overload .

Supply is another part of the product which helps you partner with vetted trustworthy suppliers of great quality products , faster shipping times and awesome customer service with thousands of different products to choose from .

Want to get started .

All you have to do is start a Shopify store , install the overload app and find products to start selling online .

So why do people get into drop shipping first off ?

It's really fast and easy to get started and you can drop ship with incredibly low investment costs .

You also don't need to have an establish business entity when you get started , even though it's probably smart to have one .

Once you start to grow , you don't have to worry about managing inventory packing or tracking , which means you can focus almost exclusively on marketing promotion and merchandizing .

You have access to millions of products instantly that suppliers are constantly researching to determine what's trending and what will sell .

You set the retail price .

So you control the margins and drop shipping is really easy to scale because you can hire virtual assistants as your order volume increases .

Of course , there are some challenges associated with drop shipping too first off because it's really easy to get started .

There's a lot higher potential for competition .

That's why you'll find a lot of advice out there that recommend you start off with finding a niche audience like cat lovers or gamers .

So you can operate with less competition .

Next .

There are supplier errors though uncommon .

It is inevitable that a supplier will mistakenly ship the wrong product to your customer .

If this happens , don't take it personally and handle the return like a professional , either order a brand new product from the supplier or offer a complete refund .

Also , since many drop shipping , suppliers are based in China , shipping times are generally longer turning some customers off eac it makes it easier though delivering some orders in as little as two weeks .

But generally speaking , if you make your shipping times clear throughout the buying process .

Many visitors appreciate the clarity , especially if you're selling an item in a niche where delivery times are a little less crucial .

Ok .

So you might be wondering to yourself , how do I get started ?

Well , step one , start a free 14 day trial on Shopify dot com .

Step two , go to Shopify dot com , forward slash appstore and install the OBO app .

Step three , find products from the app that you'd like to sell and add them to your store .

Step four enable gateway so you can start accepting money .

Shopify payments is a great default option .

If you're in one of the supported countries , though , you may want to enable a few other gateways like paypal apple , Pay Amazon payments or any of the 100 plus payment gateways that Shopify is integrated with .

Once you have all that , you'll need to create a plan for sending traffic to your store .

I won't go into great detail about that here , but you can find a great resource on building traffic by clicking on the card above or in the description down below and finally try to produce quality content for your store from eye catching photography to engaging product photos to great post .

Your blog .

Your audience loves to know more about your products and how they can be used and the story behind them now that we've covered all the things you need to get started , here are a few additional things to keep in mind .

One drop shipping is pretty easy to learn , but there is still a learning curve and you will experience challenges along the way .

However , mistakes can become learning opportunities .

And if you can develop resilience along the way , there are plenty of people out there finding a lot of success , drop shipping products .

Two , while there is a significant advantage in terms of capital investment over traditional e commerce .

Drop shipping isn't free , you'll likely have to spend money to drive traffic market your products and handle returns .

Three .

There is no overnight success and this is not a get rich quick scheme .

Drop shipping still requires you to work consistently for your store .

True .

You will need to dedicate less time compared to a traditional e commerce business , but it's not going to succeed without your hard work , you will always need to invest time in improving your business and for most importantly , don't source copyright items .

This is illegal around the world and can cause you some serious trouble .

My advice choose products some over low supply , a network of trusted suppliers who make it a priority to avoid copyright infringements .

That way you can rest assured that you won't infringe on any copyright laws and everybody remains in the legal .

And if you're completely new to drop shipping , start small with a single product or a small handful of complimentary items from a single supplier , you can always add more inventory as you become comfortable , but it's better to start small and build than it is to start big and become overwhelmed .

And my final tip for once you're feeling comfortable with drop shipping diversify .

Many drop shippers don't rely on single store for their entire income stream but operate a series of stores targeting various niches to build multiple sources of income .

All right , that's all I've got .

If you're looking to learn more about drop shipping , check out our ultimate guide to drop shipping ebook , a free comprehensive guide that covers everything you need to know about building and running a successful drop shipping business .

You'll find that in the description below .

And if you like this video , please be sure to like , comment and of course , subscribe and hit that bell .

We'll be adding new drop shipping videos every week where we'll be sharing some of our best secrets .

Thanks a lot for watching and until next time , learn often market better and sell more .